400 Days After Fina

Day 400

400 Days After Fina by JellOfAllTrades

Chapter 1

I watched as the multitude of trees flashed by on the right side of the road, breaking only for the occasional houses here and there. I ignored the flicker of colors as cars passed by on the opposite lane, waiting for a certain break in the trees and houses that is the destination of my trip.

It has been hours since I left my condo unit in Manila to travel south to Calauag, Quezon and I have barely moved from my first sitting position. The ride has been uneventful and the longer it went on, the more anxious I am on what I may find when I get there. The car's steady purr is the only thing to listen to as I'm not fond of the music available to me. Besides, I feel like I'm only going to get more nervous if I listen to anything.

At last, the trees and houses on the right side of the road finally gave way to a rusty black fence and as I slow down, the main gate came into view, open to whoever wishes to visit the place. I turned the car to enter Villa Felisa Memorial Park and stopped before the small chapel at the very heart of the cemetery.

I looked around and was painfully aware that I am back to where I was only five days before. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

"If you're so spooked by the diary, bumalik ka na muna sa Calauag and finish whatever needs to be finished," Jaime's voice rang in my head. "Para na rin sa ikatatahimik mo."

And here I am. Back to where everything started.

I opened my eyes, grabbed the little blue and green diary, and the bouquet of roses and sunflowers on the passenger seat, before getting out of my car. I made my way through the dusty path and stopped in front of a simple cross with green moss starting to grow on its base.

In loving memory of
Fina E. Romulo

The bouquet of white lilies I left here a week ago is still there, albeit really wilted from the exposure to the elements. I knelt and moved the wilted flowers aside to give way for the fresh ones I brought.

"I hope you like roses and sunflowers," I muttered to Fina's cross.

I closed my eyes and imagined Fina standing by her cross, wearing her usual white dress and smiling at me as her long black hair rippled by the warm summer breeze.

"Okay, I know white lilies suit you better but I thought maybe you should see some color," I said as I stood up properly, towering over my imagined vision of her. "I always see you in white; t-shirt, dresses, blouses, and skirts, sometimes even lingerie."

I chuckled at the last thing I said. I was so used to seeing ladies in their underwear that when I returned to Manila and missed my old ways, I imagined Fina wearing lacy white lingerie. Something that a bride might wear on her honeymoon.

I looked around, suddenly conscious that someone might overhear me talking to a cross. Fortunately, no one is around at this time of the day and on a weekday, too. Unless it's your loved one's death anniversary, birthday, or some other significant day, the only time people visit the cemetery is in the first week of November.

Letting out a sigh, I think about how to spend my time here in Calauag. It's in the middle of summer so my still studying cousins would be at home, enjoying their vacation. My aunt and uncles will obviously have business and work to be occupied with and there's Mamita who's also busy overseeing the final stages of the school before it opens for the semester.

Swallowing a knot in my throat, I'm starting to regret not informing my relatives that I'm back in Calauag. I mean, I know Mamita would be glad to see me again but I don't want to bother their daily routines by my arrival.